There is no such thing as a student, and there is no such thing as a teacher. Those are only roles we play, depending on how our attention is directed.
I had the experience today of having some wisdom dropped at my feet. It came in the form of an unexpected phone call. It came to me as an interruption, because it served my friend, somehow, to bestow it.
And this is a very wise friend. I am often grateful for the things I’m able to learn from him. Sometimes I learn from what he tells me; more often I learn from what he shows me. But thinking about this experience today, I noticed that it was not helpful to me to be “given” wisdom in this way, and that it didn’t honor who I am, or my process.
The lack of attention toward where my attention was at the moment really got my attention, so to speak, and I began to think about why it is that sometimes those little bits of wisdom seem so unhelpful, and at other times they are just delicious.
What I’m seeing is that I am playing the role of student when the spark of curiosity is lit in me, when I’m filled with interest, even hunger for understanding. It’s then that I’m most able to learn.
When, then, am I playing the role of teacher? That’s harder. I think I will choose to play the role of teacher only after I’m in a state of connection with someone whose curiosity is infectious, and I’m sensing, in the moment, that they’re inviting me to help them discover something.
I wonder if more attention to this can shed some light on how it is that school fails to serve so many of our kids?
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I believe we are all teachers and we are all students.
No matter what we do, no matter how humble we may be, we are always teaching somebody something. With every word and every action, we are teaching somebody something, be it how to treat us, or what kind of person we are, or some sage wisdom, or that we are ignorant fools. We can refuse to learn, but we cannot escape teaching.
Are we teaching what we wish to be teaching?
I remember asking my spiritual mentor for some wisdom on how to deal with a situation where someone was way overstepping and using me more and more. He told me this about teaching and told me that by allowing this person to violate my boundaries I had taught her how to treat me. That was pretty shocking! And then I had to take responsibility instead of being a victim. That was not easy either, lol.
Posted on March 12, 2010 at 10:52 am.